Fearing fireworks
I always begin to rush home as soon as the clocks go back in autumn. As soon as it starts to go dark I want to get behind the safety of my own front door. I?m not scared of the bogeyman or anything like that, but I am scared of one thing, fireworks.
As soon as November 5 starts drawing near, I hate it, as more and more bangs and multi-coloured lights fill up the skies where people of all ages have set them off on any piece of land available.
At one time, fireworks were a novelty and
were only set off on November 5 or a special occasion, but now they seem to be going off all year round as and when anyone feels like it.
I realised how much a problem fireworks were actually becoming when a lit firework was thrown onto a public transport bus at around 6 o?clock at night with a full bus of people. Luckily no-one was hurt as a quick thinking passenger kicked it off promptly into a grassy area where no-one could get hurt.
The legal age for buying fireworks in England is 18, so why is it that these youths who threw the firework onto the bus, were no more than 16 if that?
As there is a crackdown on buying alcohol if you are under 18, or if you are buying alcohol for an under 18 year old, surely there should be a crackdown on buying fireworks too?
In 2004 alone 1,160 people were injured with fireworks, this is compared with 1,136 in 2003. Almost half of these injuries were to people under 18, who shouldn?t be handling fireworks anyway.
Around the time of November 5, there are many well organised bonfire and firework displays to celebrate, but these are often spoilt by people deciding to set off their own fireworks, causing a danger to all the people watching.
Pre-millennium there was a voluntary code that stated that fireworks should only be sold for a three-week period around Diwali, and November 5. However when the Millennium came, this was extended so that the public could buy fireworks to set off at the new year, causing a disruption in the code. This was never returned to usual after the Millennium celebrations.
Surely with the amount of injuries caused by fireworks, the government should be trying to do something to put a stop to this. Would it not be a suitable idea to ask people (aged 18 or above) to apply for a license to set off fireworks.
This would include one date, a location applied for, and a time, in which they would have to be set off between, and perhaps this would stop people setting them off anywhere and any time.
If there is an on-the-spot fine in place for dropping litter, could there not also be one for setting fireworks off? Anyone found releasing fireworks without a license should be made to pay a fine. This will put people off, resulting in less fireworks being set off, and hopefully reducing the amount of injuries, or deaths due to recklessness of firework release.
As soon as November 5 starts drawing near, I hate it, as more and more bangs and multi-coloured lights fill up the skies where people of all ages have set them off on any piece of land available.
At one time, fireworks were a novelty and
were only set off on November 5 or a special occasion, but now they seem to be going off all year round as and when anyone feels like it.I realised how much a problem fireworks were actually becoming when a lit firework was thrown onto a public transport bus at around 6 o?clock at night with a full bus of people. Luckily no-one was hurt as a quick thinking passenger kicked it off promptly into a grassy area where no-one could get hurt.
The legal age for buying fireworks in England is 18, so why is it that these youths who threw the firework onto the bus, were no more than 16 if that?
As there is a crackdown on buying alcohol if you are under 18, or if you are buying alcohol for an under 18 year old, surely there should be a crackdown on buying fireworks too?
In 2004 alone 1,160 people were injured with fireworks, this is compared with 1,136 in 2003. Almost half of these injuries were to people under 18, who shouldn?t be handling fireworks anyway.
Around the time of November 5, there are many well organised bonfire and firework displays to celebrate, but these are often spoilt by people deciding to set off their own fireworks, causing a danger to all the people watching.
Pre-millennium there was a voluntary code that stated that fireworks should only be sold for a three-week period around Diwali, and November 5. However when the Millennium came, this was extended so that the public could buy fireworks to set off at the new year, causing a disruption in the code. This was never returned to usual after the Millennium celebrations.
Surely with the amount of injuries caused by fireworks, the government should be trying to do something to put a stop to this. Would it not be a suitable idea to ask people (aged 18 or above) to apply for a license to set off fireworks.
This would include one date, a location applied for, and a time, in which they would have to be set off between, and perhaps this would stop people setting them off anywhere and any time.
If there is an on-the-spot fine in place for dropping litter, could there not also be one for setting fireworks off? Anyone found releasing fireworks without a license should be made to pay a fine. This will put people off, resulting in less fireworks being set off, and hopefully reducing the amount of injuries, or deaths due to recklessness of firework release.
Author: Sammie Banks
Bolton iJourno group
posted by iJourno at 4:36 pm
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